Smile Identity website screenshot

Smile Identity

Smile Identity (Smile ID) is Africa's leading digital identity verification, fraud detection, AML and KYC/KYB compliance platform. Its V3 REST API and v12 mobile/web SDKs let businesses onboard and authenticate users across all 54 African countries and beyond, covering thousands of ID types and documents. Products include Biometric KYC, Document Verification, Enhanced Document Verification, Basic and Enhanced KYC, Business Verification (KYB), SmartSelfie registration/authentication/compare, phone and address verification, and AML monitoring. Verifications run against government and institutional data sources, with passive/active liveness, and results delivered synchronously and via asynchronous callback webhooks.

Smile Identity publishes 12 API contracts indexed on the APIs.io network, including Authentication API, Biometric Authentication API, Biometric Enrollment API, and 9 more. Tagged areas include Company, Identity Verification, KYC, KYB, and Biometrics.

The Smile Identity catalog on APIs.io includes 1 event-driven AsyncAPI specification and 1 Spectral governance ruleset.

Smile Identity’s developer surface includes documentation, API reference, getting-started guide, engineering blog, signup flow, pricing, changelog, and 26 more developer resources.

49.8/100 developing ▬ flat Agent 30/100 agent ready Front door AI 3/6 light Heartbeat 100/100 alive saas Full breakdown ↓
scored 2026-11-06 · rubric v0.27.0 · Show this score on your site →
1 published contract 4 Agent Skills
CompanyIdentity VerificationKYCKYBBiometricsLiveness DetectionDocument VerificationAMLFraud PreventionComplianceOnboardingAfrica

What this lets a business do 1

Business capabilities this provider's published APIs can perform, derived from its own contracts. Browse all capabilities →

Application Identity & Verification
AE-160
Biometric AuthenticationBiometric EnrollmentBiometric KYCDocument VerificationEnhanced Document VerificationEnhanced KYC
POST /v3/biometric_kyc POST /v3/document_verification POST /v3/enhanced_document_verification POST /v3/enhanced_kyc

Kin Score

Kin Score Kin Score How this is scored →
scored 2026-11-06 · rubric v0.27.0
Regulatory Posture applies to this provider. Its tags matched the AI & Biometrics regime, so Regulatory Posture carries 15 points of the composite. If this regime is wrong for your business, say so on your provider repo — the applicability map is public and we will correct it.
Create-or-Update Ergonomics applies to this provider. This API accepts writes, so it carries 10 points of the composite. It is scored from the published contracts themselves: whether a caller can create-or-update in one call, whether the write accepts a key the caller already holds, and whether the response says which branch ran. Without that, every write needs a search-and-branch in front of it, and the first time that check is skipped a duplicate record is created. Scored against the observed mean rather than raw — a provider at the catalog average is unchanged by this facet, not penalised by it.
The six quality facets above are damped to 75 points between them, because the conditional facet above carries the other 25. That is why each facet's contribution is shown against a damped maximum: raising a quality facet moves the composite by 75% of its nominal weight, not 100%. The full arithmetic is at apis.io/rating/.
Show this score on your site. Kin Score badge preview for Smile Identity It updates itself when the score changes. Paste this where you link to your API docs:
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Agent readiness — checks not met, largest first (exact, from this profile):
  • MCP Server +12 pts — deployment.mode + probe verdict on the mcp/ manifest, not the pointer; an unprobed slug falls back to authorship
  • Idempotency +9 pts — OpenAPI mutating operations declare an idempotency key — a header, a request-body property, or a named de-duplication token whose own description says so (verified); else common[].type matches /idempoten/i (documented)
  • A2A Agent Card +8 pts — a2a/-a2a.yml manifest, graded on conformance.grade against A2A 1.0.0
  • Rate-Limit Signaling +7 pts — OpenAPI responses document X-RateLimit-* / RateLimit headers (verified), else a rate_limits artifact or RateLimits link (documented)
  • Request/Response Examples +7 pts — share of operations carrying request/response examples; else an Examples / Code Samples link
  • Registration Without a Human +6 pts — a `registration_endpoint` in the served RFC 8414 / OIDC discovery document
7 more unmet checks in the Agent Readiness table above.
Kin Score — facets with the most composite points still available (weight × headroom):
Each check links to what satisfies it. Publish the artifact, or tell us where it already lives, and the score moves on the next scoring run.
Improve this rating by publishing the missing artifacts — every area above can be raised, and the full rubric is at apis.io/rating/. Every facet and dimension name above is a link: it opens that measurement's own page — what it means, the exact checks that feed it, how the whole catalog distributes on it, and the providers at the top of it. This rating is computed from the provider profile at artifacts.apis.io/smile-identity/apis.yml: open an issue on github.com/api-evangelist/smile-identity to ask a question or point us at an artifact you publish. Submit an artifact on GitHub — free → Manage your own listing — the Influence plan, $499/mo →

Markets this provider is in provisional

The Kin Score Market layer reads a provider inside its market: its position, and how deep its integrations go. Depth is only comparable within a position. Provisional and unweighted: not part of the Kin Score or agent readiness.

MarketPositionDepthRegistered MCP serverDeclares compatibility
RegTech, AML/KYC and Money Transmission distribution 28.8 - -
Biometrics Testing (biometric recognition vendors, identity verification depth) distribution 28.8 - -
GLEIF LEI Issuers (Legal Entity Identifier infrastructure) distribution 28.8 - -

Registered MCP server and declares compatibility are report only — not weighted. Undeclared means we found nothing we can read, so there is no number: we never infer integrations.

Standards implemented 1

Standards this provider implements or carries. De facto ones are profiled and measured by the API Commons; formal ones come from the standards directory and are linked by the provider's own tags. The evidence column says how each claim was established — not that it was made.

measured — observed by APIs.io (published)

APIs 12

Individual APIs this provider publishes, each with its own machine-readable definition.

Smile Identity Authentication API

The Authentication API from Smile Identity — 1 operation(s) for authentication.

Smile Identity Biometric Authentication API

The Biometric Authentication API from Smile Identity — 1 operation(s) for biometric authentication.

Smile Identity Biometric Enrollment API

The Biometric Enrollment API from Smile Identity — 1 operation(s) for biometric enrollment.

Smile Identity Biometric KYC API

The Biometric KYC API from Smile Identity — 1 operation(s) for biometric kyc.

Smile Identity Callback Replay API

The Callback Replay API from Smile Identity — 1 operation(s) for callback replay.

Smile Identity Document Verification API

The Document Verification API from Smile Identity — 1 operation(s) for document verification.

Smile Identity Enhanced Document Verification API

The Enhanced Document Verification API from Smile Identity — 1 operation(s) for enhanced document verification.

Smile Identity Enhanced KYC API

The Enhanced KYC API from Smile Identity — 1 operation(s) for enhanced kyc.

Smile Identity Services API

The Services API from Smile Identity — 4 operation(s) for services.

Smile Identity Smart Selfie Compare API

The Smart Selfie Compare API from Smile Identity — 1 operation(s) for smart selfie compare.

Smile Identity Users API

The Users API from Smile Identity — 1 operation(s) for users.

Smile Identity Verification Status API

The Verification Status API from Smile Identity — 1 operation(s) for verification status.

Scroll for all 12

Open Collections 12

Open, tool-agnostic API collections (OpenAPI-derived and Bruno).

Scroll for all 12

Agent Skills 4

Packaged agent skills for driving this provider's APIs from an AI assistant.

Event Specifications 1

AsyncAPI definitions for this provider's event-driven and streaming APIs.

Spectral Rules 1

Spectral governance rulesets for linting and validating these APIs.

Smile Identity — api reference rules

1 rules · 1 errors

SPECTRAL

OpenAPI Overlays 1

Overlays applied on top of this provider's contracts. Each card says who wrote it: a document the provider publishes, or one API Evangelist derived or generated.

Smile Identity V3 Overlay

3 actions · update · smile-identity-v3-openapi.json

DERIVED

Security Posture 2

Authentication, domain security, vulnerability disclosure, and trust-center signals.

Smile Identity Authentication

apiKey/http · 4 schemes

SECURITY

Smile Identity Domain Security

TLSv1.3 · HSTS · DMARC

SECURITY

Agentic Access 1

Recommended x-agentic-access execution contracts for AI agents.

Smile Identity Agentic Access

15 operations · 10 acting

15 operations · 10 acting

AGENTIC

Resources

Get Started 4

Portal, sign-up, and the first successful call

Documentation 2

Reference material describing how the API behaves

Agent Surfaces 4

MCP servers, agent skills, and machine-readable catalogs

Design & Contract 8

Pagination, idempotency, versioning, errors, and events

Scroll for all 8

Build 4

SDKs, sample code, and the tooling you integrate with

Access & Security 2

Authentication, authorization, and security posture

Operate 2

Status, limits, changes, and where to get help

Commercial 3

Pricing, plans, and the legal terms of use

Company 2

The organization behind the API

Other 2

Properties that don't map to a standard resource type

Source (apis.yml)

apis.yml Raw ↑
aid: smile-identity
name: Smile Identity
description: Smile Identity (Smile ID) is Africa's leading digital identity verification, fraud detection, AML and KYC/KYB
  compliance platform. Its V3 REST API and v12 mobile/web SDKs let businesses onboard and authenticate users across all 54
  African countries and beyond, covering thousands of ID types and documents. Products include Biometric KYC, Document Verification,
  Enhanced Document Verification, Basic and Enhanced KYC, Business Verification (KYB), SmartSelfie registration/authentication/compare,
  phone and address verification, and AML monitoring. Verifications run against government and institutional data sources,
  with passive/active liveness, and results delivered synchronously and via asynchronous callback webhooks.
url: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/api-evangelist/smile-identity/refs/heads/main/apis.yml
x-type: company
x-source: vc-portfolio
x-backed-by:
- 500-global
x-tier: stub
x-tier-reason: portfolio-lead
deliveryModel:
  model: saas
  open_source: false
  commercial: true
  callable_host: true
  label: Hosted service · you call their endpoint
  confidence: high
  source:
  - openapi
  - pricing
  generated: '2026-08-28'
  method: derived
accessModel:
  pricing: unknown
  onboarding: unknown
  trial: false
  try_now: false
  public: false
  label: Unknown
  confidence: low
  source:
  - authentication
  - security
  - sandbox
  - url: https://usesmileid.com
    status: 301
    note: declared website redirects to https://smile.id/ — a different registrable domain (usesmileid.com -> smile.id), possible
      rename or acquisition (probed 2026-09-03, roadmap#169)
  generated: '2026-11-06'
  method: derived
image: https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/69cecfcd51ce55fce000c092/6a198a55c9d40279f94b33a4_Smile-Favicon.png
specificationVersion: '0.23'
created: '2026-07-17'
modified: '2026-07-21'
x-docs-platform: gitbook
x-docs-platform-confidence: high
x-docs-platform-checked: 2026-10-04
tags:
- Company
- Identity Verification
- KYC
- KYB
- Biometrics
- Liveness Detection
- Document Verification
- AML
- Fraud Prevention
- Compliance
- Onboarding
- Africa
maintainers:
- FN: Kin Lane
  email: kin@apievangelist.com
- FN: APIs.json
  email: info@apis.io
apis:
- aid: smile-identity:smile-identity-authentication-api
  name: Smile Identity Authentication API
  description: The Authentication API from Smile Identity — 1 operation(s) for authentication.
  humanURL: https://docs.usesmileid.com/api-reference
  baseURL: https://api.smileidentity.com
  tags:
  - Authentication
  properties:
  - type: OpenAPI
    url: openapi/smile-identity-authentication-api-openapi.yml
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://docs.usesmileid.com/api-reference
- aid: smile-identity:smile-identity-biometric-authentication-api
  name: Smile Identity Biometric Authentication API
  description: The Biometric Authentication API from Smile Identity — 1 operation(s) for biometric authentication.
  humanURL: https://docs.usesmileid.com/api-reference
  baseURL: https://api.smileidentity.com
  tags:
  - Biometric Authentication
  properties:
  - type: OpenAPI
    url: openapi/smile-identity-biometric-authentication-api-openapi.yml
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://docs.usesmileid.com/api-reference
- aid: smile-identity:smile-identity-biometric-enrollment-api
  name: Smile Identity Biometric Enrollment API
  description: The Biometric Enrollment API from Smile Identity — 1 operation(s) for biometric enrollment.
  humanURL: https://docs.usesmileid.com/api-reference
  baseURL: https://api.smileidentity.com
  tags:
  - Biometric Enrollment
  properties:
  - type: OpenAPI
    url: openapi/smile-identity-biometric-enrollment-api-openapi.yml
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://docs.usesmileid.com/api-reference
- aid: smile-identity:smile-identity-biometric-kyc-api
  name: Smile Identity Biometric KYC API
  description: The Biometric KYC API from Smile Identity — 1 operation(s) for biometric kyc.
  humanURL: https://docs.usesmileid.com/api-reference
  baseURL: https://api.smileidentity.com
  tags:
  - Biometric KYC
  properties:
  - type: OpenAPI
    url: openapi/smile-identity-biometric-kyc-api-openapi.yml
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://docs.usesmileid.com/api-reference
- aid: smile-identity:smile-identity-callback-replay-api
  name: Smile Identity Callback Replay API
  description: The Callback Replay API from Smile Identity — 1 operation(s) for callback replay.
  humanURL: https://docs.usesmileid.com/api-reference
  baseURL: https://api.smileidentity.com
  tags:
  - Callback Replay
  properties:
  - type: OpenAPI
    url: openapi/smile-identity-callback-replay-api-openapi.yml
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://docs.usesmileid.com/api-reference
- aid: smile-identity:smile-identity-document-verification-api
  name: Smile Identity Document Verification API
  description: The Document Verification API from Smile Identity — 1 operation(s) for document verification.
  humanURL: https://docs.usesmileid.com/api-reference
  baseURL: https://api.smileidentity.com
  tags:
  - Document Verification
  properties:
  - type: OpenAPI
    url: openapi/smile-identity-document-verification-api-openapi.yml
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://docs.usesmileid.com/api-reference
- aid: smile-identity:smile-identity-enhanced-document-verification-api
  name: Smile Identity Enhanced Document Verification API
  description: The Enhanced Document Verification API from Smile Identity — 1 operation(s) for enhanced document verification.
  humanURL: https://docs.usesmileid.com/api-reference
  baseURL: https://api.smileidentity.com
  tags:
  - Enhanced Document Verification
  properties:
  - type: OpenAPI
    url: openapi/smile-identity-enhanced-document-verification-api-openapi.yml
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://docs.usesmileid.com/api-reference
- aid: smile-identity:smile-identity-enhanced-kyc-api
  name: Smile Identity Enhanced KYC API
  description: The Enhanced KYC API from Smile Identity — 1 operation(s) for enhanced kyc.
  humanURL: https://docs.usesmileid.com/api-reference
  baseURL: https://api.smileidentity.com
  tags:
  - Enhanced KYC
  properties:
  - type: OpenAPI
    url: openapi/smile-identity-enhanced-kyc-api-openapi.yml
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://docs.usesmileid.com/api-reference
- aid: smile-identity:smile-identity-services-api
  name: Smile Identity Services API
  description: The Services API from Smile Identity — 4 operation(s) for services.
  humanURL: https://docs.usesmileid.com/api-reference
  baseURL: https://api.smileidentity.com
  tags:
  - Services
  properties:
  - type: OpenAPI
    url: openapi/smile-identity-services-api-openapi.yml
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://docs.usesmileid.com/api-reference
- aid: smile-identity:smile-identity-smart-selfie-compare-api
  name: Smile Identity Smart Selfie Compare API
  description: The Smart Selfie Compare API from Smile Identity — 1 operation(s) for smart selfie compare.
  humanURL: https://docs.usesmileid.com/api-reference
  baseURL: https://api.smileidentity.com
  tags:
  - Smart Selfie Compare
  properties:
  - type: OpenAPI
    url: openapi/smile-identity-smart-selfie-compare-api-openapi.yml
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://docs.usesmileid.com/api-reference
- aid: smile-identity:smile-identity-users-api
  name: Smile Identity Users API
  description: The Users API from Smile Identity — 1 operation(s) for users.
  humanURL: https://docs.usesmileid.com/api-reference
  baseURL: https://api.smileidentity.com
  tags:
  - User
  tags_raw:
  - Users
  properties:
  - type: OpenAPI
    url: openapi/smile-identity-users-api-openapi.yml
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://docs.usesmileid.com/api-reference
- aid: smile-identity:smile-identity-verification-status-api
  name: Smile Identity Verification Status API
  description: The Verification Status API from Smile Identity — 1 operation(s) for verification status.
  humanURL: https://docs.usesmileid.com/api-reference
  baseURL: https://api.smileidentity.com
  tags:
  - Verification Status
  properties:
  - type: OpenAPI
    url: openapi/smile-identity-verification-status-api-openapi.yml
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://docs.usesmileid.com/api-reference
common:
- type: CapabilityMap
  url: capabilities/smile-identity-capability-edges.yml
  name: Smile Identity Business Capability Map
- type: Overlay
  url: overlays/smile-identity-v3-overlay.yaml
- type: DomainSecurity
  url: security/smile-identity-domain-security.yml
- type: Website
  url: https://usesmileid.com
- type: DeveloperPortal
  url: https://portal.usesmileid.com
- type: Documentation
  url: https://docs.usesmileid.com
- type: APIReference
  url: https://docs.usesmileid.com/api-reference
- type: GettingStarted
  url: https://docs.usesmileid.com/getting-started/run-your-first-test-job
- type: GitHubOrganization
  url: https://github.com/smileidentity
- type: Blog
  url: https://usesmileid.com/blog
- type: SignUp
  url: https://portal.usesmileid.com
- type: Pricing
  url: https://usesmileid.com/pricing
- type: PrivacyPolicy
  url: https://usesmileid.com/legal/privacy-policy
- type: TermsOfService
  url: https://usesmileid.com/legal/terms-and-conditions
- type: Postman
  url: https://docs.usesmileid.com/integration-options/rest-api/postman-collections
- type: ChangeLog
  url: https://docs.usesmileid.com/developer-resources/overview/changelog
- type: LLMsTxt
  url: llms/smile-identity-llms.txt
- type: Packages
  url: packages/smile-identity-packages.yml
- type: SDKs
  url: packages/smile-identity-packages.yml
- type: Authentication
  url: authentication/smile-identity-authentication.yml
- type: ErrorCatalog
  url: errors/smile-identity-problem-types.yml
- type: Conventions
  url: conventions/smile-identity-conventions.yml
- type: Lifecycle
  url: lifecycle/smile-identity-lifecycle.yml
- type: Webhooks
  url: asyncapi/smile-identity-verification-webhooks.yml
- type: Conformance
  url: conformance/smile-identity-conformance.yml
- type: Sandbox
  url: sandbox/smile-identity-sandbox.yml
- type: Components
  url: components/smile-identity-components.yml
- type: DataModel
  url: data-model/smile-identity-data-model.yml
- type: ChangeLog
  url: changelog/smile-identity-changelog.yml
- type: X-MCPServerCandidate
  url: mcp/smile-identity-mcp.yml
  note: 'Renamed from MCPServer 2026-09-03 (roadmap#247): the manifest self-describes as status: candidate — a tool list derived
    from the published API contracts, not an existing server. The scorer already read the manifest and reported mcp_server
    correctly; the MCPServer type was crediting the artifact-type surfaces with a server that does not exist.'
- type: AgenticAccess
  url: agentic-access/smile-identity-agentic-access.yml
- type: AgentSkill
  url: skills/_index.yml
- type: SpectralRules
  url: https://github.com/smileidentity/api-reference/blob/ee22a25c4c7b9e433e4fb5422f305b30773a8c2b/.spectral.yaml
x-enrichment:
  date: '2026-07-21'
  status: enriched
  artifacts_added: 23
  pass: local-v1

Smile Identity API — frequently asked questions

Does Smile Identity have an API?

Yes. APIs.io lists 12 APIs from Smile Identity, including Smile Identity Authentication API, Smile Identity Biometric Authentication API and Smile Identity Biometric Enrollment API, and 9 more.

Is there an OpenAPI specification for the Smile Identity API?

Yes. APIs.io indexes 12 OpenAPI specifications for Smile Identity, each linked for download from this page.

How do I authenticate with the Smile Identity API?

Smile Identity uses bearer-token authentication (apiKey/http · 4 schemes). The details are profiled on APIs.io as Smile Identity Authentication.

Is the Smile Identity API ready for AI agents?

Smile Identity has a Kin Score of 49.8 out of 100 (developing) and an Agent Readiness score of 29.8 (agent-ready), scored by API Evangelist on 2026-11-06.

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